Two piece buckle



Feb. 12, 1963 s. 'r. SHEARS TWO PIECE BUCKLE Filed Oct. 22. 1959 1%?)2 mini": Siuavf Y. Shea? s Patented Feb. 12, 1963 3,077,020 TWO PHEQE BUCKLE Stuart T. S. ears, Beinsont, Mass., assign-or to United-Carr Fastener Corporation, Cambridge, Mass, a corporation of Delaware Filed Get. 22, 1959., tier. No. 847,984 1 Ciaim. (Cl. 24-77) This invention relates generally to buckles and has particular reference to an improved slide buckle for straps on garments and the like.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a two piece buckle of a frame and bar construction which is designed to be easily, inseparably, snapped together when it is applied to the garment.

Other objects of the invention will, in part, be obvious, and will, in part, appear hereinafter.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the frame of the applicants buckle;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the bar of the buckle;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of the bar shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the frame and bar engaged to each other;

FIG. 5 is a section taken on line 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the buckle applied to a strap;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the opposite side of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a section similar to FIG. 5 showing a variation of the buckle; and

FIG. 9 is a section similar to FIG. 5 showing still another variation of the buckle.

Referring to the drawing, there is illustrated a buckle 10 which is adapted to be attached to a strap 12 without the necessity of threading the strap 12 through the buckle 10.

The buckle 10 comprises a frame 11 having two gripping legs 14 in spaced parallel relationship and connected at their terminal ends by a pair of supporting legs 16 as shown in FIG. 1. The geometric form of the frame 11 may be triangular, arced, or some other form which will allow a straight portion for engagement of the bar 18. Applicant has illustrated the use of a square frame 11. A series of protuberances 38 may he formed on each of the gripping legs 14 to assist in holding the strap 12 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4.

The bar 18 is a flat strip of metal or other semi-rigid material, such as found in certain plastics, slightly tapered at its terminal end 20 and having its other terminal end bent back on itself to form a bight portion 22 and a base leg 24 and an engaging leg 26. The base leg 24 is longer than the engaging leg 26 and in spaced relation thereto as best illustrated in FIG. 3. A triangular shaped tab 28 is formed from the base leg 24 having its apex 30 protruding into the area formed between the said base leg 24 and engaging leg 26. The said apex 30 of the tab 28 points toward the plane of the bight 22. A stud 32 may be formed from the base leg 24 protruding toward the plane of the engaging leg 26.

The tab 28 could be a protuberance or the free end of the engaging leg 26 formed to hook behind the frame as disclosed in FIGS. 8 and 9.

To engage the buckle 10 with a strap 12, the strap 12 is laid across the gripping legs 14 in contact with the protuberances 38, as illustrated in FIGS. 1, 4, 6, and 7. The strap 12 in the area formed by the frame is pushed down between the gripping legs 14 to form a loop beyond the plane of the frame 11. The bar 18 is then engaged to the frame 11 by placing the said base leg 24 between the bight of the said loop of the strap 12 and the plane of the frame 11 and placing the engaging leg 26 of the bar 18 on the opposite side of a connecting leg 16 from that on which the base leg 24 lies. Pushing the bight 22 of the bar 18 toward the said supporting leg 16 will cam the tab 28 toward the base leg 24, allowing the said connecting leg 16 to pass the tab 28, which Will then return to its original position locking the said leg between the apex 30 of the tab 28 and the bight portion 22. At this point, it should be: obvious that the strap 12 is looped over the bar 18 and also runs on the opposite side of both of the gripping legs 14 from that of the loop of the strap 12 as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. The base leg 24, of course, must be of sufficient length so that the engagement of the buckle 18 with the strap 12 will rest the terminal end 20 of the bar 18 against the surface of the opposite supporting leg 16 from that engaged by the tab 28. The strap 12 and buckle 10 can now be used, for example, as a shoulder strap in a pair of childrens overalls by engaging the stud 32 to a socket (not shown) on the waistband of the overalls.

The applicants device may be varied in many ways to accomplish the desired result. In FIG. 9, it is shown that the tab 28b can be sheared from the engaging leg 26 instead of the base leg 24 as disclosed in FIG. 3 and FIG. 5. The tab 281) protrudes into the area between the engaging leg 26 and the base leg 24 as in applicants original embodiment.

Another variation of applicants device is disclosed in FIG. 8 wherein the terminal end of the engaging leg 26 is bent back upon itself to form a tab 28a. In this case the tab 28a is similar in many respects to the tab 28b except that no shearing operation is necessary to form it. In both mentioned variations engagement with the frame is accomplished by the camming of the tab 2% or 28b toward the engaging leg and after the engaging leg has passed over the terminal end of the said tab 280: or 2811, the tab springs back to its original position, locking the frame inseparably to the bar. The protuberances 38a and 38b are identical with the protuberances 38 shown in the first form of the applicants device.

Since certain other obvious modifications may be made in this device without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained herein be interpreted in an illustrative and not in a limited sense.

I claim:

A pair of buckle elements adapted to engage a belt or the like, comprising a separate frame provided with an opening and a separate flat bar of less width than said opening, said bar bent back on itself to form a base leg, a bight portion, a fastening means adapted to engage a belt or the like and adapted to lie within said opening, an engaging leg, and snap fastener means adapted to lie within the area defined by said frame and to lock said bar to said frame.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 738,948 Sharpe Sept. 15, 1903 965,370 Comstock July 26, 1910 1,538,611 Beichl May 19, 1925 1,793,836 Burns Feb. 24, 1931 2,026,750 Reiter et al. Jan. 7, 1936 2,081,385 Shaw May 25, 1937 2,615,218 Ross Oct. 28, 1952 2,798,277 Flora July 9, 1957 

